New '09 Mac Mini - Maximum Addressable Memory? (4GB, 6GB, or 8GB?)

I am looking at getting a 2009 Mac Mini, but questioning if 4GB would be enough for my needs. I noticed there are two ram slots inside the new Mini. In theory, what would stop me from putting in (1) 4GB DDR3 so-dimm module, and (1) 2GB DDR3 so-dimm module? What is the memory limitation? Is this possible? Is there a memory-controller chip Apple uses to limit end-users from upgrading the ram to more than 4GB?

I would like to buy the 2.26GHz Mac Mini w/ 2GB ram, and buy a 4GB module and a 2GB module (provided Apple used 2x1GB modules), and swap out the hard drive with a 500GB 7200rpm 2.5" drive.

Ideas?

Ahhh, so you folks don't need to search, here is a photo of the inside of the Mac Mini. Notice on the upper right side, that there are two ram slots.

In theory, this little guy should be almost as powerful as my work Dell (2.4 GHz E6600 C2D, 8GB DDR2 ram, 256MB ATI x1300).

I'd love a little Mac desktop, where I can dump in 8GB ram, and run a bunch of virtual machines, have multi-monitors, in a quiet and relatively inexpensive desktop that has a tiny footprint, and use it as a multi-platform development workstation.

In theory, this little guy should be almost as powerful as my work Dell (2.4 GHz E6600 C2D, 8GB DDR2 ram, 256MB ATI x1300).

I'd love a little Mac desktop, where I can dump in 8GB ram, and run a bunch of virtual machines, have multi-monitors, in a quiet and relatively inexpensive desktop that has a tiny footprint, and use it as a multi-platform development workstation.

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Mmmm...it may be able to address 6 GB, but I wouldn't hold my breath for 8.

Mmmm...it may be able to address 6 GB, but I wouldn't hold my breath for 8.

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Ok, 6GB should be just ok. On my Win 7 and Vista 64 partitions on the Dell, I am generally using between 5GB - 6GB of RAM. I use up to 7.25GB of the 8GB when I run two VMs. With memory allocation, I could trim it down to work within the 6GB limit.

But you can't have two 24" displays on that iMac. Plus, one of those iMac displays is going to be a crappy glossy TN panel.

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There's nothing stopping you from buying a second monitor to attach to the iMac. Point is... for that price, you can have a 2.26 mini with no monitor, or a 2.66 iMac with one (built-in) monitor. Seems a bit silly to choose the mini if that's the choice.

There's nothing stopping you from buying a second monitor to attach to the iMac. Point is... for that price, you can have a 2.26 mini with no monitor, or a 2.66 iMac with one (built-in) monitor. Seems a bit silly to choose the mini if that's the choice.

Whether the panel is crappy is a matter of taste.

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Many of us do not care for the glossy finish. So while you may have a slightly faster machine, what good would it do if you can't stand to look at it. It may be silly to you, there are enough people around that think it's perfectly logical. And the 24" is a far nicer display than the 20" period. It's not taste, it's fact. I just can't stand the finish.

The $600 base model allows you to upgrade the CPU for $150. That's where I got my $750 2.26ghz quote.

IMHO, it's better to get the base model over the upgraded model if you're going to crack it open anyways. 1GB of RAM and an extra 160GB of HDD isn't worth $200. You might as well buy 4GB of RAM and a 320GB HDD for less than $200 and install yourself. And you end up with a 1GB RAM chip and a 160GB HDD that you could use/sell/etc.

Many of us do not care for the glossy finish. So while you may have a slightly faster machine, what good would it do if you can't stand to look at it. It may be silly to you, there are enough people around that think it's perfectly logical. And the 24" is a far nicer display than the 20" period. It's not taste, it's fact. I just can't stand the finish.

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What's silly to me is not display preference. What's silly to me is paying the same price for a lesser machine.

"the 24" is a far nicer display than the 20" period. It's not taste, it's fact"

... "this is fact because I say it is fact" is the circular logic of a nine-year-old. That you are an adult does not actually make it less circular, or more true. It's not fact; it's your opinion.

And my opinion is: the 20" display on the $1200 iMac is a much nicer display than the one on the $1200 mini.

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